The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the indirectly elected head of government (executive)

Head of government

Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

 of Malaysia. He is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong

Yang di-Pertuan Agong

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya gained independence....

, the head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

, who in HM's

Majesty

Majesty is an English word derived ultimately from the Latin maiestas, meaning "greatness".- Origin :Originally, during the Roman republic, the word maiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else...

 judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat)

Dewan Rakyat

The Dewan Rakyat is the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia. All bills must usually be passed by both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara , before they are given Royal Assent by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong...

, the elected lower house of Parliament

Parliament of Malaysia

The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament....

. He heads the Cabinet

Cabinet of Malaysia

The Cabinet of Malaysia is the executive branch of Malaysia's government. Led by the Prime Minister, the cabinet is a council of ministers who are accountable collectively to the Parliament. According to the Article 43 of the Constitution, members of the Cabinet can only be selected from members...

, whose members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the prime minister's advice. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet

Cabinet of Malaysia

The Cabinet of Malaysia is the executive branch of Malaysia's government. Led by the Prime Minister, the cabinet is a council of ministers who are accountable collectively to the Parliament. According to the Article 43 of the Constitution, members of the Cabinet can only be selected from members...

 shall be collectively responsible to Parliament. The Prime Minister's Department

Prime Minister's Department

The Prime Minister's Department is a federal government ministry in Malaysia. It is headed by the Prime Minister of Malaysia followed by other ministers in the Prime Minister's Department. The Department consists of the Prime Minister's Office, the Deputy Prime Minister's Office and more than 50...

 (sometimes referred to as the Prime Minister's Office) is the body and ministry in which the Prime Minister exercises its functions and powers.

The current prime minister is Najib Razak.

Requirements for taking office

According to the constitution

Constitution of Malaysia

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957, is the supreme law of Malaysia. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined the Federation...

, the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of Representatives and command the confidence of the majority members of Dewan Rakyat

Dewan Rakyat

The Dewan Rakyat is the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia. All bills must usually be passed by both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara , before they are given Royal Assent by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong...

; citizen of Malaysia but not by naturalization

Naturalization

Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....

.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet ministers shall take and subscribe in the presence of Yang di-Pertuan Agong the oath of office and allegiance and the oath of secrecy before exercise the functions of the office. The Prime Minister and his cabinet ministers shall not be a member of legislative assembly of any state. The Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament.

Although statutory states that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has his discretion in the appointment of the prime minister, the appointment is invariably given to the chief of the dominant party which commanding the most seats in lower house of parliament.

If the Prime Minister ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives, then, unless at his request the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dissolves Parliament, the Prime Minister shall tender the resignation of the Cabinet.

List of Prime Ministers of Malaysia

Term	No.	Name (Constituency)	Picture	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Coalition
01	1	Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, AC, CH was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained as the Prime Minister after Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined the... MP for Kuala Muda		31 August 1957	19 August 1959	UMNO United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....	AP Alliance Party (Malaya) The Alliance Party was a political coalition in Malaysia. Formed in 1951, it successfully gained the majority of seats available for contest in the first election for the Federal Legislative Council held in 1955 in what was then the British protectorate of the Federation of Malaya.The Alliance...
02 Malayan general election, 1959 General elections were held in Malaya on 19 August 1959, the first since independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. It was the third national-wide election held in Malaya since the end of World War II. Malaya later formed Malaysia with three other states in 1963. Voter turnout was 73.3%.In the...				19 August 1959	10 May 1969
03 Malaysian general election, 1969 General elections were held in Malaysia on 10 May 1969, although voting was postponed until between 21 and 27 June in Sabah and Sarawak. It resulted in the return to power, with a reduced majority, of the ruling Alliance Party, comprising the United Malays National Organization , the Malayan...				10 May 1969	22 September 1970
	2	Abdul Razak MP for Pekan		22 September 1970	24 August 1974	UMNO United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....	AP Alliance Party (Malaya) The Alliance Party was a political coalition in Malaysia. Formed in 1951, it successfully gained the majority of seats available for contest in the first election for the Federal Legislative Council held in 1955 in what was then the British protectorate of the Federation of Malaya.The Alliance...
04 Malaysian general election, 1974 General elections were held in Malaysia between 24 August and 14 September 1974, alongside state elections in all states except Sabah.. This result was a victory for Barisan Nasional , which won 135 of the 154 seats. Voter turnout was 75.1%.-Results:...				24 August 1974	14 January 1976		BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
	3	Hussein Onn Hussein Onn Tun Hussein bin Dato' Onn who is of 3/4 Malay and 1/4 Circassian ancestry was the third Prime Minister of Malaysia, ruling from 1976 to 1981. He was granted the soubriquet Bapa Perpaduan... MP for Johol Timur		14 January 1976	8 July 1978	UMNO United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....	BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
05 Malaysian general election, 1978 General elections were held in Malaysia on 8 July 1978. It was Hussein Onn's first election since he became the country's third Prime Minister. His Barisan Nasional Party emerged victorious with 131 of the 154 seats in Parliament...				8 July 1978	16 July 1981
	4	Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad . is a Malaysian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years.Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir... MP for Kubang Pasu		16 July 1981	10 May 1982	UMNO United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....	BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
06 Malaysian general election, 1982 General elections were held in Malaysia on 22 April 1982. The result was a victory for Barisan Nasional, which won 132 of the 145 seats. Voter turnout was 74.4%.-Results:...				10 May 1982	3 August 1986
07 Malaysian general election, 1986 General elections were held in Malaysia on 3 August 1986. The result was a victory for Barisan Nasional, which won 148 of the 177 seats. Voter turnout was 68.1%.-Results:...				3 August 1986	October 1990
08 Malaysian general election, 1990 General elections were held in Malaysia on 21 October 1990. The result was a victory for the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional, which won 127 of the 180 seats...				October 1990	24 April 1995
09 Malaysian general election, 1995 General elections were held in Malaysia on 25 April 1995. The result was a victory for the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional, which won 162 of the 192 seats. Voter turnout was 68.3%.-Results:...				24 April 1995	29 November 1999
10 Malaysian general election, 1999 The 1999 Malaysian General Election was held on 29 November 1999 as stipulated by the laws of Malaysia for general elections. As expected, the Barisan Nasional coalition maintained its majority in parliament, and thus, its grip on the post of Prime Minister....				29 November 1999	31 October 2003
	5	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi is a Malaysian politician who served as Prime Minister from 2003 to 2009. He was also the President of the United Malays National Organisation , the largest political party in Malaysia, and led the governing Barisan Nasional parliamentary coalition... MP for Kepala Batas		31 October 2003	21 March 2004	UMNO United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....	BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
11 Malaysian general election, 2004 General elections were held in Malaysia on March 21, 2004. The incumbent National Front government of Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was re-elected with an increased majority.-Election results:...				21 March 2004	8 March 2008
12 Malaysian general election, 2008 The 12th Malaysian general election was held on March 8, 2008, in accordance with Malaysian laws for national elections, which states that a general election must be held no later than five years subsequent to the previous elections; the previous general election was held in 2004...				8 March 2008	3 April 2009
	6	Najib Razak MP for Pekan		3 April 2009	Incumbent	UMNO United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....	BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...

Trivia

The prime minister has been from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) since independence. It is the largest component party of the Barisan Nasional (National Front)

Barisan Nasional

Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...

, which formerly known as the Perikatan (Alliance Party)

Alliance Party (Malaya)

The Alliance Party was a political coalition in Malaysia. Formed in 1951, it successfully gained the majority of seats available for contest in the first election for the Federal Legislative Council held in 1955 in what was then the British protectorate of the Federation of Malaya.The Alliance...

until the 1969 general election, which forms the government (executive) since independence.